TLC (Tiny Loving Changeling)
by VaverickDD
Summary: It is a race against time. Fluttershy and Yorkshire must find a way to return Queen Chrysalis' precious treasure to her before it's too late. The fate of Equestria rests in their hooves.
1. A Lost Child

Down south in the deserted and dry bad lands, the Changelings dwelled from pony civilization. The vicious parasitic creatures were unwelcome anywhere for what they have been known to be and do.

In a deep and dark cave in the mountains, the ruler of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis, stayed in her lair alone. Her attempt to take over Equestria had failed because the power of love Princess Cadence and her new husband Shining Armor possessed was stronger than the queen had gained. Though she wanted to plan another conquest, it was not the time. Instead of frowning, she smiled, looking upon her new baby changeling growing inside a large egg. The egg was green with veins all around the outer shell. The shell was very thin so the baby could be seen. It had already grown bug-like little wings and a small horn. Its eyes were closed shut and its limbs twitched, ready to be born very soon.

"My darling little larvae…" the Queen said in a soothing voice, gently stroking the egg with her hoof. She gave it a motherly kiss. "There's not a thing in the world that could replace you, my greatest and only treasure…"

Unfortunately, the mother and child moment was interrupted when she heard loud and angry clamoring coming from outside of her lair. She let out a groan of frustration and stood up.

"This is the fourth time this week the swarm had been fighting!" she exclaimed. "What could it be this time…?" She looked down at her egg and kissed it with a smile. "Don't worry, my precious. I'll be back shortly. Don't go anywhere." She walked out of her lair to see what the commotion was going on outside, leaving her egg alone and unguarded.

Immediately after being left alone, the horn of the baby started to glow and dim, going on and off. Babies with horns often had magic spasms that could be caused by the young age, making it difficult to control. The light of the horn continued to glow until the light consumed the egg completely. In a blinding zap from the magic spasms, it vanished, leaving the lair without a trace. It could've gone anywhere in the world.

Chrysalis returned to her lair, being able to get the other changelings to cease their ridiculous fighting among each other, but all she saw was a room without an egg.

"No… no… it can't be gone!" Her heart was stabbed with a subconscious icicle. The only thing in the world that was precious to her was gone. She began to breathe very fast with little quick squeaking gasps of panic. She searched everywhere in her lair, tossing and throwing boulders and raising dust, about to break into tears. With the place nearly demolished, there was no sign of the egg at all. The Queen broke out into many tears, letting out a grieving wail for all who lived in the mountains to hear. As she let out her agonizing and heartbreaking cries, little did she know that her egg was on a trip to the north from the bad lands.

It had magically appeared in the river, floating away on a wild ride. It had begun to travel many miles alone in moving water. It was going to be a long while until fate would make another decision for the egg. Many hours had passed. There was no stopping the egg of continuing to flow down the large river. It had soon travelled towards a large waterfall. The baby inside heard the loud and roaring currents of the water coming close to the edge of the falls, but was unable to do anything about it. The egg leaped off the edge and went tumbling down along with the falling water. After falling hundreds of feet down from the falls, the egg crashed into the next river with a big splash. It slowly rose up to the surface of the water and continued to be carried by the current without being given a scratch or damaging the baby inside.

More hours had come to pass for the egg as the sun was setting, creating a beautiful twilight sky. It was alone and wet. The baby inside began to feel cold, starting to twitch again. All of a sudden, the egg halted to a complete stop. It was blocked by a few large soft rocks that kept it from floating down the thinning river. After a long journey down from the mountains, the egg had arrived next to a small cottage just outside of the town Ponyville.

Little Lantana, a young yellow Pegasus filly with a blonde mane and tail, was tending to her own private little garden of flowers. She had always enjoyed gardening with her mother and it became a hobby of hers. She took well care of her plants. She gave it all of the love they needed. She was quietly singing to herself, hoping to entertain her flowers.

"Did you like that, Mr. Sunflower?" she asked her tall and yellow flower. She watched it move with the wind as if it was replying to her. She giggled. "Why thank you! Mommy and I have done a little practicing together." Her ear twitched, as if she was hearing her daisies saying something to her. "What's that? You need some more fertilizer? Well, I'll just ask mommy for some more. I'll be right back!"

She skipped happily around the cottage near the river. Before she took another skip, something caught her eye by the river. She turned away from the cottage and crept towards the running water, seeing something large and green. She took a closer look and saw that it was shaped like an egg. To her surprise it was an egg. She could easily see something moving inside. She tapped on the shell, and her hoof recoiled off like a rubber ball bouncing on the ground. Being unsure about what she found, she went to find her father to help with the little investigation.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she called out, running around her home.

On the opposite side of the cottage, Yorkshire was helping his wife, Fluttershy with feeding the animals for their evening dinner. Fluttershy stayed inside, feeding the indoor animals while he fed the outdoor animals. He had just given the chipmunks that were living underneath a large tree a bowl of assorted nuts and acorns. He watched the little critters literally stuff their faces with the nuts and chuckled.

"Fluttershy says to chew your food thoroughly." Yorkshire said, gently petting one of them on the head. He continued to feed the other animals until he heard his daughter calling out for him. "Daddy! Daddy!" he heard. He turned around to see that Lantana had found him and was coming up to him rather hastily.

"I found something, Daddy! Come see it!" she exclaimed, tugging one of his front legs.

"I can't right now." Yorkshire said. "You mother wants me to feed the animals before it gets dark."

"But Daddy, it's something you need to see! It's in the river!" She continued to tug on his leg, desperately hoping to get her father to go with her.

He let a small sigh out from his mouth and gave his little filly a smile. "Alright." He saw a great happy smile on Lantana's face and watched her go to the river. He put down the food for the animals and followed her. "So what is it that you found, sweetie?" he asked.

"I think it's an egg! You have to come see it!"

"An egg, huh? This should be interesting." Yorkshire looked in the river, and saw the large egg with his own eyes. He took a step back in fright, seeing an egg so green and veiny. He watched Lantana touching the rubbery shell of the egg. "Lantana! Don't go near it!" he yelled in haste.

Lantana quickly took a step back from her father's loud voice, frightening her. "But Daddy… it's just an egg."

He took a few steps closer towards it. It was still being pushed by the water, but it was being blocked by rocks that were keeping it from flowing down further. He slowly placed his hoof on the shell, feeling the texture of it to be smooth and yet squishy.

Lantana puffed her cheeks with frustration. "How come you get to touch it and I can't?" she pouted.

Yorkshire decided to ignore her last comment. He saw the being that was growing inside the egg, but couldn't tell what it was. Was it a large bird, or was it a dragon? He placed his ear against the shell to see if he could hear something from it. From the egg, he heard a quiet thu-thump like a beating heart. There was something in there, but was it something he wanted to see when it would hatch? From the way the egg looked, it appeared to belong to something dangerous.

"Lantana, I don't think we should keep this here." he said, looking towards his daughter and then back to the egg. "I think we should just push it down the river and forget we ever saw it."

"But Daddy, we should take care of it like Mommy does with the animals." Lantana replied.

"Sweetie, your mother is the last pony we should tell about this egg. If she were to see this, she would never part with this thing, and my worries might actually come true. Please, Lantana, whatever you do, don't tell-"

It was too late. Lantana had already gotten into the cottage to tell her mother about what she had found.

Fluttershy quickly followed her daughter outside and saw Yorkshire by the egg in the river. She gasped loudly and flew over. "Oh my goodness…!" She landed next to Yorkshire and placed her hooves on it, gently caressing the shell. "I hope it's okay…!" She put her arms around the egg and pulled it out of the river, causing her pant heavily with little squeaks as she inhaled. She looked to her husband with worry in her eyes. "Yorkshire, why didn't you pull this out of the water sooner…?!"

Yorkshire stayed silent for a moment, seeing how Fluttershy was getting a little assertive with him. He slowly opened his mouth to speak. "I… had some other thoughts about this thing…"

"Sweetie, we'll talk about what your other thoughts later. Right now, we need to get this egg inside and keep it warm." She looked over to her daughter and signaled her to come over. "Lantana, please help me get this inside."

"What should I do?" Yorkshire asked.

"Um…" Fluttershy looked around, but then saw an unfinished platter of food that was supposed to be given out to the rest of the animals. "You can come in and help once you finish giving the animals their dinner."

He slowly nodded. "Yes, Fluttershy…"

She and Lantana rolled the egg into the cottage carefully without damaging the shell.

Yorkshire watched them go inside before continuing to the give the rest of the animals their food. He let out a worried sigh.

"I have a bad feeling about this…"


	2. Under the Shell

Yorkshire had finished feeding all of the animals their dinner before the sky turned dark. His mind was still troubled with the strange egg that Lantana had found. Fluttershy took it inside to care for it. The fear was it would hatch into something that could be dangerous. He felt a small tap on his right front leg, seeing that it was Angel, who had the same idea of what could happen. He lowered his head and gently patted the little bunny's head.

"I'm worried too." he replied. "I don't think there is much I can do anyway. You know how Fluttershy is when it comes to animals. Strange or not, she'll take care of it."

Angel hurried away into his little house, cowering under his blanket.

Yorkshire looked at the cottage, noticing a moving light inside. He could tell that Fluttershy had lit the fireplace. He took a deep breath and walked inside the cottage, closing the door behind him. He felt the heat of the fire warm his body the moment he walked in.

Upon the large oval shaped rug on the living room floor, Fluttershy and Lantana dried the egg with a couple of towels. They carefully pushed it towards the fireplace.

"Don't get it too close to the fire, sweetie." Fluttershy said. "We don't want it to be too hot."

"Won't the baby come out faster if it gets warmer?" Lantana asked.

Fluttershy giggled and groomed her daughter's mane. "I'm afraid that's not how it works. We just have to wait for it to hatch on its own time. Just be patient." She looked over to Yorkshire who had just come in. She saw worry in his eyes, making her slowly frown. She patted one empty spot on the rug for him. "Why don't you come over here, darling?"

Yorkshire silently walked over to her and sat on the empty spot, near the egg and facing Fluttershy. Lantana was facing the fireplace. The three circled around the egg. He looked at it and stared at the small figure inside the shell. So far he had said nothing when he came inside. He could not break eye contact with the egg. It was making his fears grow for his family and possibly for the land of Equestria.

As Lantana continued to rub the egg with her towel, Fluttershy noticed her husband's unusual silence. Something was troubling him. Only his eyes could tell her the answer. She saw that his eyes were gazing upon the egg. She did not see any joy or relief in them. She could only see the opposite. Of all of the eggs she and Yorkshire had found in the past, she had never sensed a great disturbance within him.

"Yorkshire…?" she asked him quietly. She did not get a response the first time. "Yorkshire…?" she said again in a more clear and hearable tone. Still no response. The third time, she gave him a gentle tap on his shoulder. "Yorkshire…!"

The tap on the shoulder took Yorkshire by surprise. He jumped in his seat, startled by the touch of his wife's hoof. His heart was beating in a panic, but it quickly calmed down into a normal beating pattern. He broke eye contact with the egg to look up to Fluttershy's face. He could see that she was giving him a concerned look: her ears were folded back, and there was no smile on her face, only a small frown.

"Yorkshire… Are you feeling alright?" she asked him.

He gave her a little nod and rubbed one side of his head. "Yeah. I just feel a little dizzy that's all." he replied.

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh and looked towards Lantana who was cuddling with the egg.

"Sweetheart, could you go upstairs for a while? Mommy and Daddy need to talk alone."

"Awww…" Lantana whined. "But I want to stay with the egg…"

"Please, Lantana…?" her mother asked once more with pleading eyes.

Usually a parent would fall for the big pleading eyes from their children, but it was the other way around in Fluttershy's cottage. Lantana only gave her mother a nod and walked upstairs, leaving Yorkshire and Fluttershy alone with the egg in the living room.

When Fluttershy heard Lantana's door close, she aimed her eyes towards Yorkshire so she could talk to him and only him.

"Honey, tell me what's on your mind." she spoke first. "The moment you came inside, you haven't been yourself. What's the matter?"

Yorkshire looked at his wife, but could only remain silent. His mouth opened, trying to speak the words that he wanted to say, but the possible way of how Fluttershy would react would make it worse on the situation.

"I-I don't know if I can…" he replied, shrugging his head into his shoulders. "I feel like it's something I should keep to myself…"

"But we always share about what's on our minds, don't we?" She slowly placing her hoof on his. "What is it that you aren't able to tell me…?"

He continued to look upon his wife, but broke eyes contact to look at the egg.

Fluttershy grasped the egg with both arms and looked down at it as well. "It's this egg, isn't it?" she asked. "This is what's bothering you?"

He nodded. With her finally knowing, he could finally be forward with his feelings.

"I've got a bad feeling about this egg." he said in a strong but weakening tone. "The moment I saw it, I began to fear for the worst."

She looked at the egg again. "Well… it is rather different than the other ones we found." she suddenly gasped. "Do you think this could be a dragon egg?!"

He shook his head. "I doubt it." he replied. "I've seen dragon eggs before, and they don't look slimy and weird looking like this one here. I have the feeling that whatever's in this, it could be dangerous…"

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at Yorkshire's last comment. "Don't be silly, Yorkshire. Babies can't be dangerous. Of course Pumpkin Cake can get a little unstable with her magic and cause a minor disaster, but that's because she's so young and she's not able to control herself." She began to stroke the egg gently. "When the baby comes out of this, I'm going to give it all of the love it needs." She kissed the egg, not caring that it felt weird touching it.

The egg made a sudden reaction to the kiss by forming a large crack on the surface of its shell, causing Fluttershy to jump back.

"Oh no… oh no oh no oh no…!" She shook her head in great denial about to be in the verge of tears. "Please tell me I didn't do something wrong…!"

The egg's crack became larger and larger until it started to open by itself with strands of thick slime snapping from under the shell. But it only opened halfway.

Yorkshire and Fluttershy stared at the egg only for a short time until he moved over to the egg, coming closer and closer.

"W-what are you going to do…?" Fluttershy nervously asked.

He placed his hooves inside the half opened shell. "I'm want to see what we're up against…" he replied. He slowly started to open the shell, pulling the two sides of the crack apart. His hooves touched the inside of the shell, feeling the slime inside. He shuddered, but ignored it. He continued to pull until the top half of the shell was torn off. His eyes widened and let out a quiet gasp.

Fluttershy stayed silent from hearing her husband's gasp, but broke it with her voice starting to crack. "What is it…?"

Yorkshire did not reply, as his eyes were witnessing the beginning of a new being's life. It was indeed a baby, but it was a creature of a species that once tried to take over Equestria.

Fluttershy crept next to him, seeing what he was seeing. She too let out a quiet gasp, but it wasn't of horror. Her eyes sparkled as her mouth slowly formed a smile of adoration. She saw a tiny baby of black skin, a crooked horn, insect wings, and gaping holes within its ankles, lying in what it looked to be naturally made bedding from the soft inside of the egg. It had not yet opened its eyes.

"It… it's a baby changeling…" she quietly said to Yorkshire. "It's so adorable!"

Yorkshire's body froze into place, hearing her speak of beauty towards the hideous creature. His head turned towards her. He watched her reach her hooves into the opened shell, picking up the baby and holding it in her arms. It was still covered in some of its egg slime, but she didn't care that some of it was getting on her coat. She gently began to rock it back and forth.

"Fluttershy… are you out of your mind?! You seriously expect to let this thing live with us?!"

"Why can't we?" she asked, tilting her head.

He face-palmed himself in frustration. "It's a changeling! Don't you know a lot about these creatures?! They're vicious and evil!"

She giggled. "Don't be silly. This is just a baby. What harm could it do?" She started to stand up as her husband went into shocking silence. "I'm going to wipe it off and myself and let it sleep in Lantana's old cradle tonight. I'll let her know that the egg is hatched but she'll have to see it in the morning. It's going to be so exciting…! It's like she'll have a little brother or little sister…!" She stayed in a sudden paused and quickly glanced below the changeling baby's abdomen. She looked to Yorkshire with another giggle. "It's a girl." She started to hum to herself as she hovered up the stairs, leaving Yorkshire alone in the living room with the cracked open egg.

Yorkshire could only watch her go upstairs, unable to argue with her any longer.


	3. The Panic Attack

The next morning, Lantana let out a loud yawn with her mouth wide open. She had a sudden remembrance of what she was told last night about the egg being hatched. She jumped out of her bed and immediately went downstairs.

"I wanna see it! I wanna see it!" she exclaimed in excitement. She dashed into the living room, seeing her mother on the couch holding the baby changeling in her arms. "Is that it mommy?! Is that the baby that came from the egg?!"

"Shhhhh… The baby's still sleeping." Fluttershy whispered. "She hasn't opened her eyes yet."

Lantana climbed up on the couch and sat next to Fluttershy, getting a closer look at the baby. She first noticed that it had a strange look to its physical appearance. "Soooo… is she a pony or a bug?"

"You could say she's both." her mother replied. "She's what you would call a changeling."

"What's a changeling?"

"A changeling is a strange species of ponies that look like bugs." Fluttershy brought the baby closer to Lantana. She carefully turned the changeling over to show her insect wings. "You see these? These are how you can tell that she is a changeling, as well as her black body that looks to be thick skin."

Lantana gently touched the skin of the baby with her hoof, pulling it back the moment she touched it. "It feels more soft than thick…" she implied.

"Changeling's skin probably gets thicker when they get older and bigger." Fluttershy turned the baby changeling over with its back over her arms.

"Can I hold her?"

"Sure, but just be careful and always keep your arm under her head." Fluttershy carefully gave the baby to Lantana.

The changeling continued to sleep in Lantana's arms. "Awwwww… she's so cute."

Fluttershy giggled. "Yes she is."

"Are you going to give her a name?"

"A name? Oh my… I haven't really thought of that. Give me a minute." Fluttershy placed her hoof under her chin and made a thinking face with her eyes squinting and her lips puckered. "A name… a name… Ooh! I think I know a good one. How about Pupa?"

Lantana tilted her head in confusion. "Pupa? What kind of name is that?"

"Well, since a changeling is part insect, and some insects turn into their final stages from resting in a pupa or a cocoon, I think that would be a perfect name for her."

Lantana shrugged. "I guess that name's okay." She took a look around the living room. She could not hear any other set of hooves stepping around the house. "Where's daddy?"

Fluttershy giggled and kissed her daughter's cheek. "On his daily patrol in Ponyville." she replied. "He won't be back until early evening."

"I somehow always forget that…" Lantana felt a small squirm in her arms. Looking down, she saw that Pupa was possibly waking up at last.

Pupa opened her solid aqua eyes for the first time since hatching from the egg. Her vision was blurry, but it was slowly getting clearer and clearer. The first thing she saw was a young yellow pony with blonde hair and green eyes. Her lips began to tremble, her eyes were closed tight, and started to let out a soft cry.

Lantana's heart began to race, never learning how to calm a crying baby. Her arms moved out of place as Pupa squirmed in somewhat of a fuss.

"Mommy…! Please help me…!"

Fluttershy quickly took over the situation, allowing Pupa to cry in her arms. "Awwww, what is it that you're crying for, little Pupa?" she asked the young changeling.

Pupa continued to let out her first cry, but was paused by a tiny growl coming from her little tummy.

"I think I see what the problem is." Fluttershy carefully carried her into the kitchen with Lantana following. "Lantana, could you please bring some baby food from the bottom cupboard?"

Lantana wasted no time. She rushed to the bottom cupboards, opening them and searching for any trace of baby food inside. She even had to push herself inside to look for it.

Meanwhile, Pupa continued to cry out of hunger. Fluttershy grew worried that there might be no more of the mushy food she fed Lantana when she was an infant. She carefully placed Pupa on the table. "Oh please don't cry…" she said, stroking the changeling's little head. "I'm certain we have something that might fill that tummy of yours…"

"Aha!" Lantana exclaimed. "I found some!" She pulled a few jars of baby food, containing mushed up carrots, peas, and bananas. She quickly brought them over to the table.

Fluttershy opened the jar of banana and scooped some up with a small plastic spoon that she used to feed Lantana with. She moved it towards Pupa slowly.

Pupa's crying became quiet when she started smelling a sweet aroma coming from the spoon. Her nose moved towards the spoon in a suspense that made Fluttershy start to form a wide smile with her pupils expanding. She sniffed the mushy food once then retracted with a shriveled nose and sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Fluttershy's hopes came to a sudden halt. She moved the spoon closer to Pupa, only to see her trying to avoid eating it with small sounds of struggle. "Oh please won't you try it?" she asked. Pupa still wouldn't cooperate. She soon started to cry again. This time, it was getting louder. Even the animals around her started to flee from the dreadful sounds. Fluttershy wiped the banana off the spoon and scooped it into the mushed carrot. "How about carrots? Carrots are good for your eyesight." She moved it towards Pupa's mouth, but she kept it shut, still refusing to eat. Fluttershy broke a sweat and started to breathe nervously. She wiped the carrot off and scooped the spoon into the last jar, and showed it to Pupa. "Peas…?" she asked in a breaking voice.

This time, Pupa swatted the spoon out of Fluttershy's hoof, dropping it to the floor. She cried much louder than the last two times. Loud enough for Lantana to cover her ears.

"There has to be something Pupa can eat!" Lantana shouted through the cries.

"I-I don't know…!" Fluttershy replied, breathing faster. "If she doesn't eat anything, she's going to starve…!" Her eyes began to water, and her heart was racing. She picked up Pupa and held her close to her chest. "I'm not going to give up on you yet… I'll do everything I can to give you all of the love you need…"

Pupa, as she cried more, felt warmth against Fluttershy's coat. She turned herself towards the warmth and snuggled deeper into her chest. It was not noticed that her little curved horn was glowing underneath Fluttershy's fur. Her crying started to calm down. She let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes, falling to sleep.

Fluttershy looked down to see that Pupa had fallen asleep. Her mouth was open, but was completely speechless.

Lantana uncovered her ears and looked towards her mother and Pupa. "What happened…?" she asked in great curiosity.

"I don't know…" Fluttershy replied. "It's as if… just snuggling into me made her stop crying…"

Lantana tilted her head in confusion. "How is that possible, mommy? She was crying because she was hungry. How does snuggling into you fill her tummy?"

"I… did remember Twilight telling me something about changelings feeding on good emotions such as…" She gasped quietly as she formed a smile from a sudden thought. "Love…! That's it, Lantana…! Only love can feed her…! Oh, I'm just so glad that we figured this out in time…!"

Lantana smiled and hugged her mother tightly. "You think I could feed her with my love too?"

"Perhaps some other time, sweetie." Fluttershy replied. "But for now, let me feed her for a while."

. . .

Meanwhile in Ponyville, Yorkshire walked down the center of the street on his daily patrol. Unfortunately, his mind was still uneasy about the baby changeling that was staying with him and Fluttershy. With a lack of sleeping, he seemed a little cranky that day.

"Doesn't Fluttershy know what she's taking care of?" Yorkshire thought to himself, looking directly down at street while walking. "Why can't she listen to reason? What if that thing starts attacking the animals? What if it attacks my little girl?" He groaned in frustration and continued on.

Coming out of Sugarcube Corner was one of his comrades, Llanfair. He was another member of the Royal Knights. Ever since he arrived and moved into Ponyville, he had always been visiting the shop to purchase some candy, thanks to Pinkie Pie who showed him how wonderful candy tasted at the Gala under a decade ago. He walked out of the shop with a small sack of his favorite candy, jelly beans.

"Thank you! Come again very soon!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily to one of her now favorite customers.

"I will!" replied Llanfair with a muffled mouth full of jelly beans. He strolled along cheerfully, holding the bag in his mouth as he tried to identify each flavor of the 5 or 6 jelly beans that tumbled around in his mouth. "That one's... cherry, definitely cherry. And this one... maybe blueberry, maybe grape. And t- yuck, black licorice."

He stopped his tasting the jelly beans in his mouth when he noticed Yorkshire passing by. He formed a happy smile on his face and trotted over to the young knight, blind to notice that Yorkshire was not in a very good mood.

"Ey Orkvire, wazup?" asked Llanfair with his mouth still sticky with candy.

Yorkshire heard Llanfair next to him. He didn't wish to talk at the time, so he was giving no interest in the conversation.

"Nothing much..." he replied quietly.

Llanfair continued, still not seeing Yorkshire's grumpy face. The candy or the thrill to see him only blinded him more.

Llanfair reached into his bag and produced a hoof-full of jellybeans. "Vant zome?"

Yorkshire shook his head, only feeling his frustration rise. "No thanks, Llanfair. I'm not very hungry right now."

"Ok, more for me." Llanfair walked alongside Yorkshire, finally swallowing his candy beans. "So how are you and the missus?"

Yorkshire gritted his teeth. "We're... doing fine." he replied.

"Sure doesn't sound like it." Llanfair nudged Yorkshire playfully. "Did you get put in the doghouse?"

Yorkshire stomped his hoof roughly to the ground and gave Llanfair a glare in blinding anger. "NO I WASN'T!" he screamed.

As he saw a surprised and frightened look on Llanfair's face, he noticed the ponies around them had gone silent, all glancing towards the young knight who was seen as the one who broke the sound of cheerful chatter. He felt a chill crawl up his spine that he put a hoof out of line. He took a deep breath, and gently patted his friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry..." he said in a shameful tone. "I didn't mean to scream at you. I haven't been myself lately..."

Llanfair smiled, rolling off the yell like water on a duck, a lesson he learned from hanging around Pinkie Pie so much. "You know what'll help that? A drink at the Prancing Pony. It's that new pub they just opened across town."

Yorkshire thought about it, and couldn't remember the last time he had a relaxing drink. He gave Llanfair a simple nod and followed him to the new pub.

Llanfair turned towards the pub, happy to keep Yorkshire company. "So what do you usually like to drink?"

"I'll just get an apple cider. That usually calms my nerves."

They entered the new pub, where it was quite crowded at the time. Luckily, they found a couple of empty seats at the bar. Yorkshire unstrapped his sword and put it to the side. He leaned his legs on the counter and let out another deep sigh.

Berries n' Cream, a cream-colored earth pony with a purple and red mane, walked up to the table. Noticing Yorkshire's sword, her eyes gleamed. "Oooh, two strapping stallions in uniform. What'll it be, handsomes?" She winked at them, not in a trashy way, but in a cute and harmless way.

"I'll just take an apple cider, please?" Yorkshire replied in a depressed tone.

Berries n' Cream gave Yorkshire a nod and a smile, and then turned her pretty eyes towards Llanfair. "And you, sweetie?"

"I um... I... uh..." Llanfair hid his face in the folded out menu, pretending to look at the drink list.

Berries giggled as she wrote down Yorkshire's order. "I'll come back to you in a bit, hon. And what kind of apple cider would you like, darlin'? We have Flim and Flam, Greased Lightning, Golden Foam, Firecracker, and Sweet Apple Acres."

Yorkshire gave Berries a small smile. "I'll have the Sweet Apple Acres cider." he replied. "That's what I need."

"That's one of the strongest ones we have. Hard day at work, sugar?"

"No, no. I'm just not feeling like myself today..." Yorkshire said, letting out another sigh. "Just give me a small mug of it."

"Ok, comin' right up." Still seeing that Llanfair had his muzzle stuck on the menu, she slowly pulled it down and looked at him, smiling sweetly. "Find anything you like, hon?"

Llanfair blushed, seeing a set of lovely eyes before him. "I uh..." He glanced at the menu once more and looked up at Berries again. "Just surprise me." he responded, smiling nervously.

"Sure thing, sweetie. One cider and a surprise coming up." Berries walked back to the counter to make the drinks.

An awkward silence filled the space between Llanfair and Yorkshire. Llanfair saw Yorkshire leaning his face into his legs, feeling that his depression was deepening. He didn't want to ask him what was bothering him before they got their drinks. A few minutes later, Berries presented a small jug of cider to Yorkshire and a glass of a surprise for Llanfair.

"It's a specialty drink I made myself. I call it Drink of a Different Color. It'll make your tongue change colors for about an hour as a bonus, plus it changes flavors. Enjoy, hon."

Llanfair took the glass and playfully smiled at Berries in a flirty way. "Thank you, love. I'm sure I will."

Now it was Berries' turn to blush. Sure, she made playful flirts at a lot of ponies, but it was mostly for tip bait, and the fact that since she was older than the other waitresses, nopony would take her seriously about it. This was the first time she could recall somepony returning the favor. She remained silent for a bit until she left to take care of the other customers.

Yorkshire took a sip of his cider and exhaled with a satisfied smile. "Ahhhhh... nothing like a good cider, eh Llanfair?"

"Hey, check this out!" exclaimed Llanfair as he took a sip of his drink. He stuck out his tongue, showing that it had turned a bright electric blue.

Yorkshire chuckled quietly at Llanfair's colored tongue. "That's pretty neat." he said, taking another sip of his cider. "Now that I'm feeling a little more relaxed... I think I can tell you why I haven't been myself recently..." Yorkshire said.

Llanfair gulped the rest of his drink down, his lips going from purple to orange as he licked them. "So what's up?"

"Okay, but before I tell you, you cannot, I repeat, you 'cannot' tell anypony else about it. You got it?" Yorkshire began to get hostile towards his companion.

Llanfair couldn't tell if it was the cider or if it was just Yorkshire getting cranky again.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a splintery lance in my eye."

Yorkshire barely smirked towards Llanfair's humorous vow. "Nice. So anyways..." He took a deep breath. "we found a baby changeling in the river by the cottage..."

"You what?!" Llanfair spurted out, getting a few glances from the other ponies in the pub. "Is she crazy?"

Yorkshire groaned quietly. "I wanted to just push the egg further down the river and forget about it, but Fluttershy took it in with Lantana helping out." He leaned his face into his legs and bit his bottom lips.

"How did she find it?"

"Lantana was the one who actually found it first. Before I could tell her not to get her mother, she had already went inside and told her... Now it seems Fluttershy wants to take care of it like we had another baby. Doesn't she realize how dangerous changelings are?"

"Apparently not..." Llanfair replied. "but we do."

"Llanfair, what am I going to do? How am I going to persuade Fluttershy into parting with this thing…?"

Llanfair sighed. "I don't know, my friend..."

Coming from outside of the pub was the sound of terrified cries as if something was causing a chaotic commotion. Everypony in the pub stayed silent to hear the screams.

Yorkshire and Llanfair strapped their swords to their sides and dashed out without hesitating, not before Llanfair placed fifteen bits on the counter plus a tip. Galloping as fast as they could further into Ponyville, they heard loud buzzing in the air like bugs were flying around their ears.

"What's happening?!" Llanfair exclaimed in a bit of panic.

"Only one guess!" Yorkshire replied loudly.

They arrived in the town square, witnessing a small group of five changelings terrorizing the ponies and breaking into the homes. The citizens screamed and panicked, escaping their broken in houses. The adults tried as best they could to protect their children.

Yorkshire pulled out his Element of Kindness blade and charged at one of the insect like ponies who was caught off guard, bashing himself against it as hard as he could, making it crash into a large stack of wooden crates.

The changeling who was thrown onto the crates hissed as it flung itself into the air and landed next to Yorkshire, sporting a few small cuts. "Youuuuuu," said the creature with a snake-like lisp. "Knight... husband of the timid one, yessss?"

Yorkshire fiercely pointed the tip of his sword against the ugly creature's throat.

"What's it to you, pest?!"

The changeling grinned horribly, staring at the blade. "Lucky guess..." In a flash of green light, the monster transformed itself into an exact replica of Fluttershy. She took one look at Yorkshire, then the blade next to her throat, and began to cower in fear, huddled up on the ground in a scared pile of yellow fluff and feathers. "P-please don't hurt me..."

Yorkshire froze in place, realizing that the changeling had tricked him. His anger grew, but couldn't risk exposing himself killing a pony that wasn't in its true form. He kept the sword close to the Fluttershy imposter, but not in contact with its fake skin.

"You're a coward, you vile maggot!" he growled.

At the insult, the changling impersonating Fluttershy got up slowly, moving the blade away carefully, and gave Yorkshire a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe you should seek marriage counseling, then."

Llanfair sliced the wing of a changeling he was fighting off with his blade of Laughter before it could take flight. Although the changeling hissed in agonizing pain, the knight quickly plunged his blade into its side, killing it instantly. He looked over to Yorkshire who was holding his ground against what looked to be his timid wife.

"Yorkshire! Don't just stand there, you idiot! Kill it before it kills you!" Before he could say another word, another changeling swooped down and bashed against him. He was thrown into one of the wooden pillars of the town hall in a loud crash.

The Fluttershy imposter batted her eyelashes at Yorkshire, frowning cutely. "You wouldn't kill me, would you... honey?"

Yorkshire kept his blade up, but couldn't resist backing up slowly.

"Stop it..." he said, feeling a shake in his voice. "You're not my wife... you're just an ugly beast who feeds off ponies' love for their own satisfaction..." As the imposter got closer, he stepped further back.

She came closer, matching Yorkshire's pace as she swished her pink mane around, taunting Yorkshire further. "Come… give us a kissssssss." 'Fluttershy' opened her mouth to reveal a set of sharp fangs, ready to pierce.

Yorkshire closed his eyes tightly, blinding himself for what he was about to do. "YOU'RE NOT MY WIFE!" With a mighty swing of his sword, he felt it severe something thick, and heard a hard splatter and a soft thud on the ground.

The changeling heard the quick slash of a sword, the sensation of something warm trickling down his face, and then everything went black. It fell to the ground, dead in mid-transformation; he died before he could turn his upper body back to normal. His legs were pitch black and insect-like, but the belly and face were forever stuck imitating Fluttershy, her fur matted with blood, her face captured in a permanent mixture of surprise and pain.

Yorkshire panted heavily from that great swing he made. When he opened his eyes, he saw that light left 'Fluttershy's' eyes, leaving the legs exposed as part of the actual changeling. He was struck by an imaginary spear in his heart. He knew it was the changeling he killed, but cannot help but feel great fear that his wife could possibly die in such a brutal way.

"No... I will not let this happen..." He angrily turned towards the last three changelings that continued to terrorize the town and its civilians. He screamed in fury, charging at them with great speed and strong chivalry.

One of the changelings, too slow to respond, was instantly cut in half by Yorkshire's rage. The rest swung up in the air, out of their reach and began to fly back to the Changeling kingdom. As Yorkshire tried to reach them, Llanfair trotted up to Yorkshire, never taking his eyes off the changelings.

"How many scouts does it take to send a message?!" he asked.

"One!" Yorkshire angrily replied.

"Right." Llanfair picked up a sharp shard of glass and, with all his might, threw it at a changeling. The glass shard went flying, sticking cleanly into the insect's back as it fell to the ground about 10 yards away, still alive but in agony. "Let's go interrogate..."

The town had become very quiet after a sudden attack by five changelings. Many of the civilians peeked out of the buildings to see if the coast was clear. They saw no other changelings around, so they slowly crept out, but with caution. They saw desolation in their town, but would be able to repair. They as well noticed three changelings who were killed by more than one blade. They were curious to know who killed them. That was when they noticed Yorkshire and Llanfair walking away from where the fight took place. They decided to follow them but at a distance.

Yorkshire and Llanfair found the changeling that was taken down by a shard of glass from the sky. The impact of the crash fractured two of his legs and damaged his wing. He was also losing many ounces of blood. The changeling sputtered and struggled with the wedge of glass lodged in his chest, penetrating his vital organs.

Llanfair drew his sword and placed it by his neck. "Tell me what you are doing here and I'll ease your passing."

The changeling looked at Llanfair with its insect eyes that were filled with anger and hatred. It didn't notice that everypony else of the town gathered, clamoring with each other, waiting for an answer. It laughed with a raspy sound before it coughed up more blood.

Yorkshire couldn't tolerate the parasite's laughter. Still angered, he gave the changeling a hard stomp on one of its fractured legs.

The changeling roared loudly, coughing up more blood as it wiggled in pain. "P-princessssssss..." was all it could say before darkness came and took it, and it spoke no more.

Everyone was confused of what the changeling had said before it died, raising questions and wanting answers. Llanfair and Yorkshire were confused as well.

"Great... that was all we could get out of that bug..." Yorkshire growled in frustration.

Llanfair angrily kicked at the changeling corpse. "Curse it! That could mean anything!"

From the kick, a strange looking diamond rolled off from the corpse onto the ground. Yorkshire quickly caught it within his eyesight.

"Hey Llanfair! Look at this!" He pointed towards the green diamond next to the body.

The other ponies quickly gathered to see the diamond the two knights were talking about. Voices clamored with each other, making it difficult to hear what they were saying.

However, a silence filled the street when the diamond suddenly lit in bright green. Then a spiral of strange magic formed out of the diamond, making everypony back away. Yorkshire and Llanfair had no reason to fear whatever might appear from the diamond. The spirals then took shape into a tall figure that looked to be Queen Chrysalis. The ponies gasped in fright, making them back off even further. The queen's eyes looked around the area. The ponies and the knights soon realized that they had somehow made contact with Chrysalis herself.

"Don't look at it!" Llanfair grabbed his cloak and threw it over the crystal, shielding the brightness. "We need to take this to Canterlot. It's not safe here."

"That sounds like the plan for now." Yorkshire replied. "Would you be able to take it there yourself? I need to go home and speak with my wife."

"I can handle it." replied Llanfair as he tucked it up securely. "I'm heading straight for the castle." he said in a hushed tone so that others wouldn't hear. "Will you be there shortly?"

"I don't know, but send me a message if the Princess requires my presence. I might have something she needs to know about." Yorkshire moved through the crowd to get back to the cottage. He didn't bother to clean himself up after the fight. Fluttershy had to know what happened.

Shortly after, Yorkshire returned to the cottage. When he opened the door, he saw Fluttershy and Lantana play with Pupa on the floor. The baby giggled as she tried to reach up to Fluttershy's face. Yorkshire stepped forward towards Fluttershy with serious eyes.

"Fluttershy, we need to talk." he said.

"What is it, Yorkshire?" asked Fluttershy as Pupa clung onto her mane playfully.

Yorkshire looked at Pupa with a fearful but assertive look. He turned to Lantana. "Lantana, go upstairs and wait in your room. Your mother and I need to discuss something very important…" 

Lantana frowned. "But daddy, I want to play with Pupa more…" 

"Now Lantana!" her father yelled.

Lantana stayed completely silent, looking at her father who looked to be in a bad mood. She stepped back, close to tears. She quickly went up the stairs without making a sound from her mouth.

The changeling baby clung to Fluttershy like an oversized hair clip, shivering at Yorkshire's voice. Fluttershy frowned at Yorkshire, upset that he was being so expectantly firm with Lantana. "What's the matter, Yorkshire?"

"Fluttershy, we cannot keep this baby here. She has become too dangerous to have around!" This was the first time Yorkshire had ever been assertive towards his delicate wife. He needed her to listen to reason.

The changeling crawled up to Fluttershy's shoulder, hugging her close.

"Sweetie, I don't think we should even be bonding with this child! She's a changeling!"

Fluttershy held the changeling in her arms, avoiding Yorkshire's gaze. "She is a creature that needs my help."

"This creature is why five adults of her own kind attacked Ponyville! They terrorized the town looking for her!"

Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

Yorkshire nodded his head. "Now you understand why we can't keep her here. I had told Llanfair about her and he is off to tell Princess Celestia what is going on. It's only a matter of time before she requires our presence."

"Then that's more of a reason to keep her!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing from her. He never saw such stubbornness in her. "Fluttershy, listen to yourself... do you mean to say that you would rather keep her than let the changelings find her?"

"Pupa's still a baby. Somepony has to present her to the princess if that's what we have to do."

"And we will once she asks us to come to Canterlot."

. . .

Meanwhile inside the throne room of Canterlot, Llanfair reported what had happened in Ponyville to Princess Celestia. He then presented the green crystal that was on one of the slain changelings. The crystal lit the entire room in a gloomy green as a magical image of Queen Chrysalis appeared before the princess. The guards in the room took up arms.

"Princess Celestia..." growled the queen.

Celestia ordered the guard to stand down, knowing Chrysalis was only communicating through the gem. "Seeing Stones, Chrysalis? You've been tampering with some rather dark magic..."

Chrysalis looked as if she had been crying all day. Her angered eyes were red and her cheeks were soaked from tears.

"Enough of your stalling!" she screamed. "You have something of mine, and I want it back!"

"I thought I made it clear the last time that the love from my subjects is not yours to take!" Celestia said.

"No! It's something you have taken from me! Something that means to me very much! And you have the real nerve to steal my precious!" Chrysalis was about to be on the verge of tears once more.

"Precious?" thinking this was some kind of trick, Celestia raised her guard. "What do you mean? And please don't tell me it's a magic ring that can make you invisible..."

"YOU INSOLENT MONSTER! I WANT MY BABY BACK!" The queen lost her final nerve and became furiously enraged by what she believed to be Celestia's jokes.

Celestia recoiled a bit. "Baby?"

"That's right, Miss High and Mighty! I know you have stolen my child to get back at me! You're a thief, Celestia! A THIEF!"

"I am no such thing!"

"LIES! ALL LIES! I'm giving you ten days to give me back my baby, or else I'm going to order my entire swarm to get her back at any means necessary, even if they have to destroy everything in their path!" Chrysalis gave Celestia hateful eyes as more tears ran down her face.

"Chrysalis, I am not lying!"

Before Celestia could say more, Chrysalis' magical image returned back into the green crystal, shattering it into pieces. Celestia was not be able to make contact with the queen.

Llanfair stepped forward to the princess, feeling fear consume his courage. "Your highness, does Chrysalis really believe that we have stolen her baby...?"

Celestia sighed deeply. "I'm not sure, but she did seem to be distressed."

"Princess... I must tell you this; I know where the child is."

Celestia was quiet for a long time before turning to Llanfair. "My quarters... now."


End file.
